Pierce Students Win Statewide Honors

For the third consecutive year, students from Pierce College in Woodland Hills have returned from the state honor society convention with the top awards for scholarship and community service.

Farida Dohadwala of Tarzana took home the Montavoni Award for Leadership and Academic Excellence, the highest award bestowed annually by Alpha Gamma Sigma, the statewide community-college honor society.

Mary Bange of Agoura Hills took the Loly Award for Academic Excellence, and Aaron Rozzell of Chatsworth captured the Ed Walsh Outstanding Service Award.

“We’re the only college that has been three for three the past three years,” said Pierce business administration instructor Kathy Daruty.

“It’s really exciting, the fact that our students win so consistently, competing with 658 students representing 56 schools,” said Daruty, faculty advisor for the honor society.

In the conference held last month in Monterey, Dohadwala won the top award for maintaining a 4.0 grade point average while enrolled in more than 60 course units.

Fluent in several languages, including English, Urdu and Arabic, Dohadwala has been an active member of Pierce’s AGS chapter and Academic Senate, and also teaches third grade at an Islamic/Arabic academy, Daruty said.

Bange won the academic excellence award for maintaining a 3.9 GPA while carrying 102 units, Daruty said.

Rozzell won the service award for his work with AIDS Project Los Angeles, Daruty said.

“Aaron has been the AGS president, he’s in the Academic Senate, he does fund-raising. I don’t know how he even has time to get good grades,” Daruty said.

Each of the three students received scholarships, but Daruty declined to specify the amount.